The reason why Kareem could do the sky hook so well was the fact that he was playing ball at the perfect time for him to develop it. At the time if anyone remembers it was against the rules to dunk in college. More of you couldn't grab the rim like you would in a dunk. Being that this was a huge facit of kareems offense he needed a way around this. Thus the sky hook. Instead of dunking he would literally throw the ball into the hoop. It was basically a dunk with no finish.The reason why this was so easy for him was that he would get so high up and would be so above the rim he would throw it down kinda like the super man dunk by howard but in a hook manner. s years went on he could add distance and his ability was unstoppable.

Lebron wont be able to to this. Kareems height allowed him to this this. He didnt have to jump that high to do the sky hook. For lebron to do this would be extremely hard. Kareem had years of practice on it and height. Lebron is learning to develop a hook not a sky hook.

Magic was posting up other perimeter players that had a size disadvantage and he was backing down people to find the space and perform the shot.

It was more flat than Kareems but is was effective because he had greater strength than his match ups. Thats how Lebron can use his effectively.

Jumping ability will be a plus too for Lebron but is not something that you would like to everdo with that shot. If you try to jump high you usually lose the mechanics of the shot. You don't want to consentrate there. Thats why a big advantage in bulk or height can make the difference.

Kareem with his heght had one more plus. When he shot the sky hook and he was guarded 1 on 1 his body at the time of the release was facing and leaning towards the basket many times. So he was in place for an offensive rebound automatically after the release.

The connection between Detroit and the Lakers franchise and the countability of its success on NBA terms